Jun 2

FO: Winters Frost Socks

Nothing works better as travel knitting for me than a nice and simple pair of socks. Last week I got to spend a few days in Iceland for a conference, and a last minute sock cast on was made to keep me company.

Pattern: Winters Frost socks by This Handmade Life
Yarn: Superwash merino sock yarn by Samelin Dyeworks 

I’m going to  have very little to say about these socks, which is not at all a reflection about how much I like them. But very simply put, I love the yarn, it was very great to work with and the colours are giving me a very summer-y vibe. And the pattern is an incredibly simple lace repeat, no thinking required. So this was exactly what I needed, a simple yet pretty sock, that I could pick up on the plane or whenever I needed it, and just being able to add a few rows whenever I wanted. I know myself, and I probably would have lost interest in a vanilla sock. So this was the absolute perfect solution.

May 19

FO: Whitethorn socks

My knitting mojo has been pretty low recently, so it feels good to finally have an FO off my needles again.

Pattern: Whitethorn socks by Lindsey Fowler
Yarn: La Bien Aimee tough sock in a Happy Accident colourway

My low knitting mojo means I do still pick up my needles occasionally, but I haven’t been very focused on one project, and a lot of the time I just mindlessly knit a couple of hexipuffs. Yesterday was Eurovision however, and I used it as an excuse to finally get this pair of socks finished.

This is a pretty fun pattern to make, the cable repeat is not that hard to memorise and keeps the knitting interesting. I think in terms of yarn I’m a bit on the edge with how much business the pattern allows for, but it still works out and the cables pop more than enough.

I recently also made this little unicorn for a tiny friend. The pattern is Nilla the Unicorn and if you are looking for a super cute way of using up your leftover yarn, this is it!

Mar 16

FO: Coronis sweater

My third finished sweater of the year, and the third grey one in a row at that. I’m sensing a pattern!

Pattern: Coronis sweater by Emily Ringelman
Yarn: GGH wollywasch 

This pattern was originally featured in Pom Pom quarterly issue 10, which I purchased a couple of years after its release and specifically with the goal of making this sweater in mind. I instantly knew the sweater was very ‘me’, and I’d want to wear it all the time. With me being very busy recently, it was a perfect easy sweater to have on the needles.

For yarn I used the new to me ggh wollywasch, a 100% wool blend yarn from a german manufacturer. To me, this relatively no frills sweater goes oh so well with this no frills yarn. The charcoal has a bit of a tweedy look to it, and this perfectly affordable yarn comes in so many colours. I would most definitely recommend this yarn for sweater knitting!

Now for my next garment I will honestly try my best to make something less moody-coloured 😀 Something I know the emerging spring weather will certainly be helping with.

Feb 16

FO: Piece of Silver sweater

I have been knitting pretty monogamously lately, partly because work has been busy and multitasking multiple projects was too draining, and partly because I was involved in a game of yarn chicken. With this sweater to be exact. And there is some part of me that truly feels like I’m in a race whenever I start to feel I might run out of yarn. As if, when I’d just knit fast enough, surely I’ll beat the yarn to it. Well, maybe it is true, because I totally managed a full sweater with the yarn I had.

Pattern: Piece of Silver sweater by Veera Välimäki (featured in Laine Magazine issue 1)
Yarn: Marianthi yarn in Merino fingering extra soft, in the Opal colourway

This is one of those patterns I have been meaning to make for ages, and the yarn had been in my stash for one year already. I am so happy I finally cast on. The yarn is so so soft, and so much fun with the subtle speckles in many different colours throughout.

This sweater pattern is incredibly beginners friendly. The knitting is basically a top down raglan, and there is no shaping whatsoever in the body. I had no problems following the pattern and the finished product is incredibly light-weight and comfi.


But in full honestly, I will show this picture of the back of the sweater as well. I think I have been seriously knitting for 5-6 years now, but I am very far done from learning. I often find that if I am not very good at a technique, I will avoid it. Which is truly a shame and stops me from knitting all the patterns I want. One thing that often holds me back is alternating skeins when knitting with hand-dyed yarn. I’m much more prone to do this when I know my sloppy alternations are easily hide-able in the button band of a cardigan for example. With sweater I’ll often only alternate for the body, and not for the yoke part where it would be more obvious to see. For this sweater I did alternate throughout, with the exception of the turtleneck. For the yoke the alternation happened on the back, for the body I alternated on the side, where it looks like a seem. And is my alternation on the back neat and invisbible? Hell no, you can definitely tell. I know a lot of knitters would probably run away screaming from a sweater with such an obvious ladder in plain view. But honestly? I don’t care so much. It’s a learning process, at least I did not shy away from it this time. I’m sure in the future I will do better, and until then, I will be wearing this sweater with pride. Imperfections and all.

Jan 27

FO: On The Road Socks

My first pair of socks of 2019! This was my New Year’s Eve cast on, that I’ve been knitting on occasionally in the past month, and they came off the needles yesterday.

Pattern: On The Road by Verena Cohrs
Yarn: Craftfulness spoil base in the Summer Allergies colourway

This pattern is knit toe-up and is pretty much easy going for the most part. The only part for which you need to switch on your brain is the end of the leg where the travelling stitches are happening (but even that part is intuitive and easy to remember). I’ve knit many of Verena’s sock design by now, and they always give me a great fit. Again, this pair sits wonderful on my feet!

I used yarn by a dutch dyer called Craftfulness. The colours are lovely pastels, but you might notice the socks looking pretty different. Of course it’s not uncommon for this to happen with hand-dyed yarn, but it was made significantly worse by me. By the end of sock number 1 I was in a massive fight with my yarn cake, which I had been knitting from the inside out. It had turned into one enormous knot that was pretty much unknittable. Therefore, sock number 2 was knit outside in. I definitely like my socks quirky so it doesn’t bother me one bit though. And I’d take a pair of mismatched socks any day over untangling an untangle ball of yarn barf!